Mail-bag catcher.



i B. L. HUFF.

MAIL BAG CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED AuG,.30. 1915.

I 1 1 86,907 Patented June 13', 1916.

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BARNEY L. :er-UFF., or JEAN, TEXAS.

MAIL-BAG cATcHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1916.

Application filed August 30, 19.15. Serial No. 48,050.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, BARNEY L. HUFF, citizen of the United States, residing at Jean, in the county of Young and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to an improved mail'Y bag catcher and the principal object ofv the invention is to so construct 'the device that the train device and track device maybe provided with substantially the same constructionV and thus make it unnecessary to provide a device of a special construction for either the train or the track device, both devices being as stated before of substantially` the same construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for engaging the mail bag to remove the same from theholdmg means.

Another object` of the invention is to so mount this engaging means that it may be used for receiving a mail bag from a car traveling in one direction as well as in another. f

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for mounting the jaws which are partl of the engaging means, the

jaws being yieldably held in a closed posi- .readily seen that the train device and track device are substantially the same in construction each comprising `a standard carrying bag supporting arms lone of which is yieldably held in a normal position and also car- ,rying an arm for supporting the engaging element' lwhich is pivotally mounted and comprises a pair of jaws yieldablyheld in a closed position and releasably held in an open position by va trigger engaged by the sack when caught. Therefore'the parts of the train device and track device are interchangeable and-thus the cost of manufacturing is reduced.

The standard 1O, ofk the train deviceris formed from a length of piping which carries ears 11 through'which the pins 12 of the bracket 13 pass thus pivotally mounting the standard 10 and permitting it to be swung from the position shown vin Fig. 1 to an inoperative position. The sack holding arms 14 and 15 are carried by the standard 10, the arm 14 extending through the standard and thus being rigidly mounted and the arm 15 being pivotally mounted upon the pin 16 so that it will have vertical swinging movement. A spring 17 is provided with one end connected with the inner end of arm 15 and the opposite end connected with the eye 18 carried by the bar 19. This spring will therefore tend to normally hold the outer end ofthe arm 15 in a raised position'and thus cause a frictionalbinding between the pin 2O of the arm 15 and-the ring 21 of the mail bag indicated by dotted lines when the bag is putin place with its upper' ring 21 engaging the pin 20 and its lower ring 22 engaging the pin 23 ofthelower arm 14. The arm14 is braced by the braces 24 and 25, the brace 24 leading to the bar 19 and the brace 25 leading to the arm 26 which carries the engaging element of the train device.

From an inspection of Fig. 2 it will be seen that the engaging element comprises the inner and outer jaws 27 and 28, the in-v ner jaw being the stationary jaw and the Outer jaw being the movable jaw. These two jaws carry plates or hinged ears 29 which are overlapped as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and connected by the pivot bolts 30 which alsoserve as means for carrying the spring 31.` This spring 31 has its coil placed about thebolt30 between the hinge and Vhas its vlower arm 32e'ngaging the stationary jaw 17 and its upper arm 33 engagingk ythe movable jaw so that the movable jaw will be normally held in a closedfposition. It is desired to have the jaws releasably held in an open position so that the mail bag can pass between the same and therefore the trigger 34 has been provided 1Vwith its innerk end hinged to the stationary jaw by means of the hingej35and its free end adapted to engage the outer `end lportion of the movable jaw as shown inFig. 2. In order to Vpermit this engaging device to be used for either up track or down track vService it is necessary to have the catching element pivotally mounted and therefore the stationary jaw has been provided `with an enlargement or shoulder 36 which lits between thearm 37 of the block or bearing 38. This block Y fits against the end of the-arm 26 and is pivotally connected therewith by means of the bolt 39 which passes through the arm 26 and is held in place by the nut 40 mounted upon its inner end. An abutment 41 is Vprovided so that when a sack is caught the finger 42will engage the abutment 41 and prevent the engaging elementfrom rotating and thus givingthemail sack a chance to slip :from Vbetween the jaws 27 and 28 before it has been iirmlyengaged.

The station or track device is very similar in-construction tothe train device and will now be described briefly, someieference being vmade to the detail description in connection with the train device since it isvnot thought necessary to repeat the detail description of the parts which are the same. rfhe standard 43 carries the sack holding arms 44 and 45 which are similar'to the arms 14A and 15, the arm @i being stationary and the arm 45 being pivotally mountedupon the pin 46 and-having vertical swinging movement in the slot 47 of the standard. This arm'45 is yieldably held in thenormal position bythe spring 48 so that rings 49 and 50of the sackl will beheld in tight engagement with-pins 51 and 52 of the holding arm, the spring" being kconnected with thebar `53 which corresponds 'tothe bar 19v an'd'braced by the brace 54.leading to the arm 44. It should be noted thatthe Varm`55which corresponds to thearni 26'is y trigger 34. 1n this 4device the stationary jaw pso is rigidly mounted between the arms of the block 62 by means of the bolts 63 so that when the block turns upon the pivot bolt 64 which corresponds tothe bolt y26 the engaging device will be rotated with it. Abutment lingers 65 similar to the abutment fingers42'are provided andengage the diagonal brace 56 to limit the rotary motion of the engaging element. It is not. necessary to have the-standard 43 rotatably mounted inI the'manner that the standard 1'0 is,since this standard 43 ismounted adjacenttheV tracker upon the' station platform and does triggers small.

not need to be swung out of the way when not in use.

Vhen using this device the mail bags are suspended from the hooks of the arms carried by the-standards 10 and 43 as shown by the dotted lines and the catching devices are turned so that the open ends of the jaws will face in the direction in which the train is moving. Tlie'jaws are held open by the 34 and 61 and since the triggers are adjacent the outer ends of the jaws a mail bag cannot pass between the same without the triggers being sprung and permitting the springs to move the movable jaws 28 and 59 to a closed position to clamp the mail bags between Vthe same andthe stationary jaws. After the mail bag has been delivered and a mail bag caught the caught bagv canvbe removed from between the'jaws of the catching element of the train device and if the mail bag handling device is not to beused again until the return trip the same maybe swung against the side of the car where it willbefout of the way. If however a mail bag is to be deliveredat Ya following station or a mailbag to be takenv up the second bag will be put in place and the catching element set and the process repeated. After the caught Vsack has been removed from the stationV devicerand itis desired to remove a sack from a trainV upon the returntrip the catching element will be turned to= face the direction froml which the trainfwill approach and Aset to catch the sack from the train `and .a sack to be delivered to the train will be placed between the supporting arms' 44 and 45.

I have"therefore provided `'a mail sack catching and delivering 4apparatus whichis so constructed that the various parts of the train dev-ice and station device will be interchangeable, thus making the cost of manufacture and instalment comparatively It will also be noted that I have provided a device in which the engaging element is very simple in construction but very effective in operation. It will also be noted that the engaging ydevice'is so constructed that it may be used for removing sacks from trains moving either up the track or down the track and'that therefore this device can be used-upon single track lines with very great facility. ltvshould be further vnoted that this device is so constructed that'the mail sack will' be very securely held until removed from the holding arm and that when removed it will be very securely held until removed from 'between the'jaws of the engaging ldevice by the station master or mail clerk in the train car.

What is claimed is y 1. In asack handling device a'support- Ving bar, ablock pivotally connected with said vbar'and provided with spaced arms,

means for'limiting the rotary movementv of 130 said block, a stationary jaw rigidly mounted between said arms, a movable jaw, hinged ears extending from said jaws, a pivot pin connecting said ears to pivotally mount said movable jaw with respect to said stationary jaw, a spring mounted upon said pin and provided with arms engaging said movable and stationary jaws to normally hold said movable jaw in a closed position, and a trigger pivotally connected with one of said jaws and having its free end engaging the other of said jaws to releasably hold said jaws in an open position.

2. In a sack holding device a bar, a block connected with said bar, a stationary jaw rigidly connected with said block, a movable jaw, hinged ears extendsupporting Gopiel'ot this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the BARNEY L. HUFF.` Witnesses J. A. HUFF, W. N. LUNN.

Commissioner o! Patents wanning'ton, n. c." 

